Goodbye for Now
by Hirotani
Summary: Sanosuke goes through his memories of the Sekihoutai as he leaves Japan to explore the world...


Good-bye For Now  
  
1st Point: Don't own Rurouni Kenshin, so don't get your lawyers in a bunch.  
  
2nd Point: A fan fiction from Sanosuke's POV dedicated to the Sekihoutai. Sadly, their tragic fate is not well-known in Japan. I thank the Ruroken artists and editors and whoever worked on the series on their inclusion of the Sekihoutai. [changes the quote 'Remember the Alamo!' to 'Remember the Sekihoutai!']  
  
3rd Point: I am not good at making titles. Haha. I would've had a one- word, simple title, but I couldn't think of anything that would fit.  
  
4th Point: I go by the manga. But actually, I believe in the anime, Captain Sagara was publicly executed and NOT shot down. In the episode where Captain Sagara's ghost appears, Sanosuke has a flashback of, er, a disturbing image of the Captain's head on a stake.  
  
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The shore receded from sight, my last glimpse of Japan as I turned my back to that island country and embraced adventure. I don't doubt that I will come back. There are just too many memories for me there. Yeah, not to mention Kenshin, and Kaoru, and Yahiko, and everyone else, even that Saitou freak, they'll be waiting for me to come back. Hopefully, the police won't be waiting as well.  
  
Thoughts strayed back to my last meeting with Captain Sagara. I was, truth be told, unnerved at first. It's not everyday you see someone you know is dead. I never told anyone about Captain Sagara's ghost. I'm sure Kenshin or Katsu would've believed me if I had. But I felt that this was just supposed to be a secret. Between me and the captain.  
  
I remembered the first time I saw the captain. My dad and I were tending the daikon radish plants, while my sister was weaving. The Sekihoutai had come into the area, telling people of the Ishin Shishi's plans of tax cuts and other reforms. Some people were skeptical, my dad included. I don't like to remember the exact words he said to Captain Sagara before calling me back into the house.  
  
But I'd already been hypnotized by the captain's words. I could see how passionately he believed in them. And I became a believer, too. My dad got mad at me when I asked him about the Imperialists. He told me that they were just spinning off wild rumours in order to gain the trust of gullible farmers. I couldn't make him understand why I believed the captain.  
  
So what was a nine year old kid supposed to do? Run away. Now that I think of it, I must have looked pretty stupid showing up at the Sekihoutai's camp site in the middle of the night, freezing cold and hungry. But the captain just smiled gracefully when he patiently listened to my explanation after sitting me near the fire and ordering food to be brought for me. I'm sure he didn't understand what I said, but he could see how much I wanted to help, to be a part of something I believed in.  
  
About a month later, I met Katsu. It was a perfect fit from the start. We argued about nearly everything. Just about the only thing we agreed on was what we believed. Everything else was fair game to argue about, except when it got so bad that yelling came to shoving, and then to wrestling on the ground. Someone would pry us apart, and the captain would chastise us. His words were always gentle, but the guilt and shame that came to us from knowing that we'd broken the captain's trust was worse than being beaten. Then, for a few days, we'd be overly polite to each other. If the captain was around, he'd award us with that soft smile of his, and we would both burst with pride.  
  
The fabric of my headband brushes across my bare neck. I reach a hand up to brush it away, and grin, remembering my joy at being given the mark of the Sekihoutai by Captain Sagara. Surprisingly, the headband's given me relatively little trouble over the last ten years. At first, right after the captain's execution, people had refused to look at me, and I heard whispers behind my back. Sometimes I would be driven out of villages or towns, called a liar and conceited. But I wore it stubbornly, and what's more, with pride. But people eventually forgot all about the Sekihoutai, and I was allowed some peace.  
  
But the physical peace didn't matter to my mental state of mind. I hated the government with all my heart. I knew that they had just used the captain, the Sekihoutai. What's more, I hated myself. I hated myself for being weak. A kid can't do much of anything. It was just luck that I hadn't been there for the captain's trial, otherwise I would have done something stupid and maybe killed myself, which seemed a better option at the time.  
  
Yet now... I'm still alive, even after all the messes I'd gotten my sorry ass into. And it seems the last of the revolution is finally being put to rest. Maybe it's time to put the Sekihoutai to rest as well. That's the reason I decided to leave Japan in the first place... the whole police thing just made me make up my mind faster. Maybe, by seeing other countries in peace and having new experiences, I can let go of the Sekihoutai.  
  
Not forget entirely, mind you. Not even the world can make me forget the captain. Behind me, Japan has disappeared from view, and before me, the world waits. I guess this is good-bye for now, captain.  
  
-End- 


End file.
